Seeds to Sow in June

Happy June 1st! It’s officially Pride Month and the first day of hurricane season. Bring it on! Sow your seeds this month by broadcasting them to the wind to expand the plant biodiversity in your own backyard. Goodness knows we need it.

Over a period of 80 years, a 97% loss in vegetable varieties resulted in 408 varieties of peas that were formerly available in 1903 through small seed companies were reduced to 27 varieties in 1983. Image: Rural Advancement Foundation International. Click image for more.

Are you aware that 97% of the vegetable varieties we used to enjoy were lost during an 80-year period from 1903 to 1983? We’re 40 years down that road and the numbers haven’t improved. Beginning in 1965, there was a push to market crops that could be made into hybrids, a model that attracted giant chemical companies into the seed business. They protected their investments in seed with patents that prevent farmers and backyard gardeners from saving them. Because the commercial success of the hybrid seed model, today 50% of the world’s seed resources are owned by the top four chemical companies. This is the opposite of regenerative agriculture. Nature inherently thwarts this model, fortunately. And her design will withstand the test of time, and climate.

The consolidation of small seed companies arising from a push for hybridized varieties beginning in 1965 has resulted in 50% of the world’s seed owned by the top four global chemical companies. Image: Phil Howard, MSU. Click image for more.

Seeds are fully awake in warm soil now, and some of the best seeds to sow in June are the wonderful warm weather crops that need heat to put on size, weight, and splendor: think melons, pumpkins, sunflowers, okra, nasturtiums, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant (not to mention zucchini). You’ve probably transplanted the latter five crops, but the former five are best sown directly into soil. Since most cool season pea varieties have reached their peak, crops like chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), cowpeas, and California black-eyed peas are ready to take their place in June, adding nitrogen back into the soil.

If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend planting warm season cover crops in June wherever you have bare soil. You could wait until the second or third week, but don’t miss the extra boost gained from sunnhemp, sorghum-sudan grass, millet, or okra when planted among melons or New Zealand spinach. Warm season cover crops fix nitrogen into to the soil where you pulled up radishes, carrots, onions, or garlic. They also regulate water during drier periods, attract pollinators and other beneficial insects, and add green manure when cut. These cover crops will grow tall and upright to provide gentle shading for vining crops that travel the soil’s surface reaching for the the best sun exposure. Try a departure from the standard European varieties and grow a grain or two. I’ve had great success with amaranth before and this summer I’m growing chia.

According to weather forecasts, I’ve read that parts of California and Arizona have the highest chance for continued cooler-than-average temperatures this month, which follows the pattern we experienced in May. Don’t fret: take advantage of this slow wind up to summer. Build trellises to grow vertically and prune suckers off tomatoes and cucumbers before temps arrive hotter in July. I’ve been re-seeding beans and basil each week to ensure a bountiful harvest in August… fingers crossed!

If you want a complete run-down on seeds to sow in June, check out the video linked below.

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Veggies 🥬🍅🥕
amaranth, beans, black-eyed pea, chickpea, corn, cowpea, eggplant, gourd, melon, New Zealand spinach, Malabar spinach, Okinawa spinach, okra, pigeon pea, Seminole pumpkin, squash, Suriname spinach

Flowers 💐🌸🌼
calendula, cornflower, cosmos, flax, nasturtium, marigold, milkweed, sunflower, Tithonia (aka ‘Mexican sunflower’)

Herbs 🌿🌱 🪴
basil, lemon balm, mint, rosemary, sage, tarragon

Cover Crops 🌾🌾🌾
amaranth, buckwheat, chickpea, chicory, cowpea, lablab, millet, mung bean, okra, pigeon pea, safflower, sorghum-sudan grass, soybean, sunflower, sunn hemp

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